Deuteronomy 14:1

Deuteronomy 14:1 says, Ye are the children of the LORD your God: ye shall not cut yourselves, nor make any baldness between your eyes for the dead.  Moses said they were the children of God and they were not to cut themselves nor shave their heads in mourning for the dead.  They were not to harm or even disfigure themselves because they still had a heavenly Father, no matter who died, and if the person who died was truly a child of God, they had simply gone on to their heavenly home.  Verse two adds, For thou art an holy people unto the LORD thy God,  and the LORD hath chosen thee to be a peculiar people unto himself, above all the nations that are upon the earth. Moses said they were a holy people, chosen by God and not by their own goodness.  They were to be a peculiar people, different in their values from all other people.  As followers of Christ, we are a holy people because of Who our God is, and not because of who we are of our own merit.  We, like Israel, are to be  peculiar people, set aside from the values of the world to live by God's law.  Verse three states, Thou shalt not eat any abominable thing.  Moses then said that they were not to eat any abominable thing, and then he told them what would be considered abominable.  Of course, after the death of Jesus, these restrictions were removed by God, so we are free to eat these animals today.  Verse four adds, These are the beasts which ye shall eat: the ox, the sheep, and the goat,  Verse five continues, The hart, and the roebuck, and the fallow deer, and the wild goat, and the pygarg, and the wild ox, and the chamois.  Verse six concludes, And every beast that parteth the hoof, and cleaveth the cleft into two claws, and cheweth the cud among the beasts, that ye shall eat.  The people of Israel were given a large variety of animals that they could eat, and we are given an even greater freedom in what we eat today.  Nothing that we eat is going to make us spiritually unclean.  Verse seven says, Nevertheless these ye shall not eat of them that chew the cud, or of them that divide the cloven hoof; as the camel, and the hare, and the coney: for they chew the cud, but divide not the hoof; therefore they are unclean unto you.  Some animals, such as the camel, hare and coney, chewed the cud but did not have a cloven, or divided hoof.  Verse eight adds, And the swine, because it divideth the hoof, yet cheweth not the cud, it is unclean unto you: ye shall not eat of their flesh, nor touch their dead carcase.  Swine were also included, because they did not chew cud.  These restrictions were to set the people of God apart from the rest of the world.  We today are set apart by putting our faith in Jesus Christ and then living by His laws.  Verse nine states, These ye shall eat of all that are in the waters: all that have fins and scales shall ye eat:  There were also restrictions on what fish the people of Isreal could eat.  If the fish had fins and scales, they could eat it.  Verse ten adds, And whatsoever hath not fins and scales ye may not eat; it is unclean unto you.  If the animal coming from the water did not have fins and scales, it was not to be eaten.  This would have included things such as eels, catfish, shrimp, clams, and oysters, and I personally am happy that these restrictions were removed when God told Peter that what He made clean Peter was not to call unclean, and neither should we.

Deuteronomy 13:12

Deuteronomy 13:12 says, If thou shalt hear say in one of thy cities, which the LORD thy God hath given thee to dwell there, saying,  Verse thirteen adds, Certain men, the children of Belial, are gone out from among you, and have withdrawn the inhabitants of their city, saying, Let us go and serve other gods, which ye have not known;   Moses then spoke to them about hearing someone in any city that God had given them calling on them to go and worship other gods.  These were people who had seen God's power and goodness, but who were still willing to turn away from their covenant relationship with Him.  As Christians, we have a covenant relationship with God, and nothing should ever tempt us to turn away from Him.  Verse fourteen continues, Then shalt thou inquire, and make search, and ask diligently; and, behold, if it be truth, and the thing certain, that such abomination is wrought among you;  Moses said that the first thing they should do was to diligently seek the truth about what had been said.  As followers of Christ we should always seek the truth before we act, especially if it involves others being accused of something that goes against God's word.  Verse fifteen states, Thou shalt surely smite the inhabitants of that city with the edge of the sword, destroying it utterly, and all that is therein, and the cattle thereof, with the edge of the sword.  Moses then told them that if they determined it to be truae that they had turned away from God to follow false gods,that they were to kill all the inhabitants of the city and to utterly destroy the city.  Turning away from God to chase false gods brought extreme punishment, but it was in the world to come where the consequences were truly bad.  Those who had turned away from God would be forever separated from Him.  Verse sixteen adds, And thou shalt gather all the spoil of it into the midst of the street thereof, and shalt burn with fire the city, and all the spoil thereof every whit, for the LORD thy God: and it shall be an heap for ever; it shall not be built again.  Moses said they were to burn all the spoil of the city, and the city should never be built again.  We need to completely destroy everything that would lead us away from God, and never attempt to build anything on it again.  Verse seventeen continues, And there shall cleave nought of the cursed thing to thine hand: that the LORD may turn from the fierceness of his anger, and shew thee mercy, and have compassion upon thee, and multiply thee, as he hath sworn unto thy fathers;  Moses then warned them to not attempt to keep anything from this city for themselves so that God would turn away from His fierce anger and have compassion on them and multiply their numbers as He had promised to do.  God's promises to us are always dependent on our obedience to Him, starting with accepting Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord.  We cannot claim to accept Jesus Christ and still worship anything else.  Being a Christian is never about getting more material wealth.  Verse eighteen concludes, When thou shalt hearken to the voice of the LORD thy God, to keep all his commandments which I command thee this day, to do that which is right in the eyes of the LORD thy God.  Moses said that if they wanted to receive the blessings of God that they would have to listen to His voice and keep His commandments.  If we want to receive the blessings of God today, we must first listen to His voice calling us to salvation through faith in Jesus Christ, and if we accept Him as our personal Savior and Lord, we are God's forever.  Still, even though we cannot be saved by obeying God's commandments,  because we will always fail to keep them all, once we are saved by faith, we should do our best to obey all of God's commandments. 

Deuteronomy 13:1

Deuteronomy 13;1 says, If there arise among you a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and giveth thee a sign or a wonder,  Verse two adds, And the sign or the wonder come to pass, whereof he spake unto thee, saying, Let us go after other gods, which thou hast not known, and let us serve them;  Moses said that if there arose a prophet or dreamer, who gave them a sign and it came to pass, that this prophet or dreamer might ask the people of Israel to go after, or follow, other gods.  There are still people today who claim to be able to see the future by the power of other gods, and some Christians may follow them.  Verse three continues, Thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams: for the LORD your God proveth you, to know whether ye love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul.  Moses told them not to follow that person, and God would prove whether they loved Him with all their heart and soul.  We cannot allow anything else to guide us today if we are truly committed to God.  Verse four declares, Ye shall walk after the LORD your God, and fear him, and keep his commandments, and obey his voice, and ye shall serve him, and cleave unto him.  Just as Moses told the Israelites, if we are a follower of Christ, we must walk after the Lord our God and obey His voice and serve Him.  Verse five adds, And that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams, shall be put to death; because he hath spoken to turn you away from the LORD your God, which brought you out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed you out of the house of bondage, to thrust thee out of the way which the LORD thy God commanded thee to walk in. So shalt thou put the evil away from the midst of thee.  Moses said that they were to put to death anyone that would lead them away from God.  Life might be simpler today if we could do this, but at times we may have all led people away from God.  We certainly do not need to follow those who do though.  Verse six states, If thy brother, the son of thy mother, or thy son, or thy daughter, or the wife of thy bosom, or thy friend, which is as thine own soul, entice thee secretly, saying, Let us go and serve other gods, which thou hast not known, thou, nor thy fathers;  Moses then warned them about family members leading or enticing them to turn away from God and follow other gods.  Unfortunately, some family members can still do this today.  Verse seven adds, Namely, of the gods of the people which are round about you, nigh unto thee, or far off from thee, from the one end of the earth even unto the other end of the earth;  Moses said this warning applied to gods anywhere in the world.  There are many false gods that people around the world worship today, and we as Christians must reject all of them, even if family members attempt to entice us away from God.  Verse eight continues, Thou shalt not consent unto him, nor hearken unto him; neither shall thine eye pity him, neither shalt thou spare, neither shalt thou conceal him:  Moses said not only were the people of Israel not to listen to a false prophet, they were also to not have pity on them nor hide them.  Verse nine says, But thou shalt surely kill him; thine hand shall be first upon him to put him to death, and afterwards the hand of all the people.  Verse ten continues, And thou shalt stone him with stones, that he die; because he hath sought to thrust thee away from the LORD thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage.  Anyone who attempted to lead the people of Israel away from God to follow false gods was to be stoned, even if they were family members.  Verse eleven states, And all Israel shall hear, and fear, and shall do no more any such wickedness as this is among you.  Moses said all the people of Israel were to hear and not do any such wickedness.  We today as Christians must hear this warning as well.

Deuteronomy 12:20

Deuteronomy 12:20 says, When the LORD thy God shall enlarge thy border, as he hath promised thee, and thou shalt say, I will eat flesh, because thy soul longeth to eat flesh; thou mayest eat flesh, whatsoever thy soul lusteth after.   Moses once again told the people of Israel that they could eat flesh, or meat, and as stated before, this still applies today.  Verse twenty-one adds, If the place which the LORD thy God hath chosen to put his name there be too far from thee, then thou shalt kill of thy herd and of thy flock, which the LORD hath given thee, as I have commanded thee, and thou shalt eat in thy gates whatsoever thy soul lusteth after.  Moses said if they were too far away from the place that He designated as the place to worship Him, they were to kill of their flocks and eat in the gates wherever they were.  Verse twenty-two  continues, Even as the roebuck and the hart is eaten, so thou shalt eat them: the unclean and the clean shall eat of them alike.  Those who were spiritually clean and unclean could both eat of the hart, or deer, though I don't believe this means they would eat together.  There is nothing that we cannot eat today for spiritual reasons.  Verse twenty-three states, Only be sure that thou eat not the blood: for the blood is the life; and thou mayest not eat the life with the flesh.  The only exception was that they could not eat the blood, because it represented life.  I believe that after Jesus shed His blood for us on the cross, thereby eliminating the need for physical sacrifices to atone for sin that even this prohibition was lifted.  Verse twenty-four adds, Thou shalt not eat it; thou shalt pour it upon the earth as water.  They were to pour the blood on the earth as water. Verse twenty-three continues, Thou shalt not eat it; that it may go well with thee, and with thy children after thee, when thou shalt do that which is right in the sight of the LORD.  Moses again warned them not to eat the blood as a sign of obedience to God.  If they did not, thereby obeying Him, it would go well with them.  As Christians today, though we are saved forever by accepting Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord, we still must obey God's commandments to show the world that we truly believe what God says.  If we do, it will go well with our soul.  Verse twenty-six declares, Only thy holy things which thou hast, and thy vows, thou shalt take, and go unto the place which the LORD shall choose:  Moses said that the holy things that they had and the vows that they took should be taken to the place that God designated.  Hopefully today, as we gather together to worship God it will be in a place that God designated.   We should never attempt to establish a place of worship if God is not leading us to do it.  Verse twenty-seven adds, And thou shalt offer thy burnt offerings, the flesh and the blood, upon the altar of the LORD thy God: and the blood of thy sacrifices shall be poured out upon the altar of the LORD thy God, and thou shalt eat the flesh.  Moses said that once that once their burnt offerings, both the flesh and the blood had been offered on the altar that they could eat what was left.  Verse twenty-eight says, Observe and hear all these words which I command thee, that it may go well with thee, and with thy children after thee for ever, when thou doest that which is good and right in the sight of the LORD thy God.  Moses called on the people of Israel to do all that God through Moses had commanded them to do, both them and their descendants if they wanted things to go well with them.  If we as followers of Christ want things to go well for us spiritually, we must obey God's law.  Verse twenty-nine adds, When the LORD thy God shall cut off the nations from before thee, whither thou goest to possess them, and thou succeedest them, and dwellest in their land;  Verse thirty adds,, Take heed to thyself that thou be not snared by following them, after that they be destroyed from before thee; and that thou inquire not after their gods, saying, How did these nations serve their gods? even so will I do likewise.  Moses warned them against becoming curious about the gods that the people that He had given them victory over and beginning to question why they should not worship them.  As Christians, we should never begin to be curious about other religions to the point that we begin to think that there might be something in them that we want to believe.  Verse thirty-one continues, Thou shalt not do so unto the LORD thy God: for every abomination to the LORD, which he hateth, have they done unto their gods; for even their sons and their daughters they have burnt in the fire to their gods.  Moses said that they were not to sacrifice unto other gods because if they did it would mean that they were unfaithful to God.  Moses said that some even sacrificed their sons and daughters to these false gods.  I believe that we cannot participate in anything whereby a baby, born or unborn, is sacriced for any reason.  Verse thirty-two concludes, What thing soever I command you, observe to do it: thou shalt not add thereto, nor diminish from it.  God said that they were to do what He had instructed them to do without adding to it or taking away from it.  We today should be the same way about God's word, especially the gospel of Christ.  We should never add to it nor take away from it, but simply accept it by faith.

Deuteronomy 12:9

Deuteronomy 12:9 says, For ye are not as yet come to the rest and to the inheritance, which the LORD your God giveth you.  As Moses told the people of Israel then, we as followers of Christ have not yet come into the rest and inheritance that God has promised us.  Of course, Moses was referring to the earthly Promised Land to them, and we look toward our heavenly home for this promise to be fulfilled today.  Verse ten adds, But when ye go over Jordan, and dwell in the land which the LORD your God giveth you to inherit, and when he giveth you rest from all your enemies round about, so that ye dwell in safety;   Moses said when they went in, not if, that God would give them rest from all their enemies.  This will be true for us when, not if, we go home to heaven.  Verse eleven continues, Then there shall be a place which the LORD your God shall choose to cause his name to dwell there; thither shall ye bring all that I command you; your burnt offerings, and your sacrifices, your tithes, and the heave offering of your hand, and all your choice vows which ye vow unto the LORD:  Moses said when they were in the Promised Land that God would designate a place for them to worship Him, and that was where they were to bring all their sacrifices, tithes and offerings to God.  When we get to Heaven, everywhere will be a place to worship God, and we will bring to Him all that we have to offer Him, which is ourself.  Verse twelve states, And ye shall rejoice before the LORD your God, ye, and your sons, and your daughters, and your menservants, and your maidservants, and the Levite that is within your gates; forasmuch as he hath no part nor inheritance with you.  All the people of the nation of Israel were to rejoice, even the Levites who had no earthly inheritance.  In this lifetime, we are all like the Levites, having no earthly inheritance, but we are to always worship God.  Verse thirteen adds, Take heed to thyself that thou offer not thy burnt offerings in every place that thou seest:  Moses told the people of Israel to take care to not offer their offerings to God anywhere except where He designated, but I believe that we today are free to worship God anywhere we are.  Verse fourteen continues, But in the place which the LORD shall choose in one of thy tribes, there thou shalt offer thy burnt offerings, and there thou shalt do all that I command thee.  The people of Israel were to all worship in the place where God designated, and when we gather together today to worship God, it needs to be in a place where He designates, unlike individually where we should worship Him wherever we are.  Verse fifteen declares, Notwithstanding thou mayest kill and eat flesh in all thy gates, whatsoever thy soul lusteth after, according to the blessing of the LORD thy God which he hath given thee: the unclean and the clean may eat thereof, as of the roebuck, and as of the hart.  God told them they were free to kill and eat the flesh of animals that they found in the land.  Though some people today tell us that as Christians we should not eat meat because it goes against what God would want us to do, this has never been the case.  Though they were limited in what animals were considered clean and that they could eat, in the New Testament these limitations were removed.  Verse sixteen adds, Only ye shall not eat the blood; ye shall pour it upon the earth as water.  Moses said that they were not to eat the blood of the animals, but were to pour it on the ground as water.  Verse seventeen says, Thou mayest not eat within thy gates the tithe of thy corn, or of thy wine, or of thy oil, or the firstlings of thy herds or of thy flock, nor any of thy vows which thou vowest, nor thy freewill offerings, or heave offering of thine hand:  They were not to eat of the tithes,  offerings, and sacrifices that were given to God.  Anything that we willingly set aside for God today is no longer ours to do with as we please, as individual Christians or collectively as a body of believers.  Verse eighteen adds, But thou must eat them before the LORD thy God in the place which the LORD thy God shall choose, thou, and thy son, and thy daughter, and thy manservant, and thy maidservant, and the Levite that is within thy gates: and thou shalt rejoice before the LORD thy God in all that thou puttest thine hands unto.  The exception was when they were gathered in the place that God designated for them to worship.  There they could eat of the sacrifices as they rejoiced in the Lord.  Verse nineteen continues, Take heed to thyself that thou forsake not the Levite as long as thou livest upon the earth.  The people of Israel were warned to not neglect providing for the Levites, those set aside to do God's work, and I believe that we today are to provide for those that God calls into the ministry and never neglect their needs..

Deuteronomy 12:1

Deuteronomy 12:1 says, These are the statutes and judgments, which ye shall observe to do in the land, which the LORD God of thy fathers giveth thee to possess it, all the days that ye live upon the earth.  Moses said that there were certain things that the people of Israel should do when they possessed the land that the Lord had given them. We as followers of Christ should do the same things Moses told them to do, and if we cannot do it throughout the nation, then we should certainly do it within the church and our homes.  Verse two adds, Ye shall utterly destroy all the places, wherein the nations which ye shall possess served their gods, upon the high mountains, and upon the hills, and under every green tree:  Moses said they were to utterly destroy all the places of worship of false gods in the Promised Land once they possessed it.  We need to make certain that we do not go to places where false gods are worshipped, even if we cannot destroy them.  Verse three continues, And ye shall overthrow their altars, and break their pillars, and burn their groves with fire; and ye shall hew down the graven images of their gods, and destroy the names of them out of that place.  They were also to destroy all the altars, groves, and graven images of the false gods.  Again, we may not be able to physically destroy them all today, but we can blot them out of our life.  Verse four declares, Ye shall not do so unto the LORD your God.  Moses said that they were not to do the same unto the LORD their God.  It is not enough to simply remove false gods from our life if we remove the one true God as well.  We must build up the places of worship to God, but we certainly do not need to make graven images of Him.  Verse five adds, But unto the place which the LORD your God shall choose out of all your tribes to put his name there, even unto his habitation shall ye seek, and thither thou shalt come:  Moses said that the place God chose out of all their tribes to put His name, that they should come to worship Him.  God should be in charge of where we choose to gather together to worship Him today.  It is not my church or your church, but God's church.  Verse six continues, And thither ye shall bring your burnt offerings, and your sacrifices, and your tithes, and heave offerings of your hand, and your vows, and your freewill offerings, and the firstlings of your herds and of your flocks:  They were to bring all their sacrifices, tithes, and offerings to the place that God designated, and so should we today.  Verse seven states, And there ye shall eat before the LORD your God, and ye shall rejoice in all that ye put your hand unto, ye and your households, wherein the LORD thy God hath blessed thee.  They were not only to bring their sacrifices and tithes and offerings to the place God established for them to worship Him, but they were to rejoice in their households because the Lord had blessed them.  We need to praise God not only in church, but when we are at home or wherever we are as well.  Verse eight adds, Ye shall not do after all the things that we do here this day, every man whatsoever is right in his own eyes.  Moses told them that they could not do what was right in their own eyes, but must do what God had instructed them to do, and we cannot just decide on our own what is right or wrong.  We must do what God's word under the guidance of the Holy Spirit tells us to do.

Deuteronomy 11:26

Deuteronomy 11:26 says, Behold, I set before you this day a blessing and a curse;  Moses said that day he set before the people of Israel a choice.  They could either choose a blessing or a curse,  One day, everyone faces that same choice. Verse Verse twenty-seven adds, A blessing, if ye obey the commandments of the LORD your God, which I command you this day:  Moses said that they could choose a blessing by obeying the commandments of the LORD which he set before them that day.  We today can choose the blessings of God if we accept Jesus Christ as our personal Savior and Lord when God calls us to Him, and then we will want to obey His commandments.  Verse twenty-eight continues, And a curse, if ye will not obey the commandments of the LORD your God, but turn aside out of the way which I command you this day, to go after other gods, which ye have not known.  Moses said they could also choose a curse by not obeying God and going after other gods, false gods, that they had not known.  If we choose not to accept Jesus Christ today and to obey God's commandments, we choose a curse of being forever separated from God by going after false gods.  The choice is ours, and not God's.  He has already chosen to provide salvation for us, but He will never force us to accept it.  Verse twenty-nine states, And it shall come to pass, when the LORD thy God hath brought thee in unto the land whither thou goest to possess it, that thou shalt put the blessing upon mount Gerizim, and the curse upon mount Ebal.  Moses said that they were to pronounce the blessings from Mount Gerazim and the curses from Mount Ebal, setting up a clear choice for them and I believe showing that they were separated from the rest of the nations.  We have the same clear choice today.  Verse thirty adds, Are they not on the other side Jordan, by the way where the sun goeth down, in the land of the Canaanites, which dwell in the champaign over against Gilgal, beside the plains of Moreh?  Moses asked if these mountains were not on the other side of the Jordan.  When we accept Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord, we are figuratively on the other side of the Jordan.  Heaven is our home, and we are just continuing to pass through this world.  Verse thirty-one continues, For ye shall pass over Jordan to go in to possess the land which the LORD your God giveth you, and ye shall possess it, and dwell therein.  Moses said that they must first pass over the Jordsn by faith for God's promises to come true, and we today must first accept Jesus Christ as our personal Savior and Lord for God's promises to come true.  Verse thirty-two concludes, And ye shall observe to do all the statutes and judgments which I set before you this day.  Mose said that when they crossed over the Jordan that they were to obey all the statutes and judgments of God that he set before them that day if they expected God to continue to bless them.  After we accept Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord, God expects us to keep all His statutes and judgments under the power and leadership of the Holy Spirit.  Just as the people of Israel were not free to do whatever they wanted once the crossed over Jordan into the Promised Land, neither are we once we accept Jesus Christ as our personal Savior and Lord.